The present invention relates generally to tools and more particularly to tools designed to remove grout, mortar and the like.
Grout is a thin mortar that is commonly filled into the joints, or voids, between tiles, bricks and the like. Initially, grout is applied as a wet, cement-based mixture. After the mixture dries and hardens, the resultant material provides both structural support as well as an aesthetic contrast in color and texture to adjacent tiles, which is highly desirable.
Over time, the grout disposed within the joints between tiles tends to soften, loosen and/or discolor. In particular, it has been found that grout in the flooring of commercial kitchens becomes problematic over a brief period of time due to its frequent exposure to foot traffic, industrial cleaners and foods with high salt content.
Because most types of tile tend to preserve their original appearance over time and are expensive to replace, it is well known in the art to restore tiled flooring by simply removing the undesirable grout from its associated joints. Once all the undesirable grout has been removed, new grout is disposed in its place to provide the flooring with a restored appearance.
Handheld grout removal tools, or grout saws, are well known in the art. One well known type of handheld grout removal tool includes an elongated cylindrical stem with a generally tubular handle mounted on one end and a triangular sharpened blade mounted on the opposite end. Grasping the handle, the operator manually grinds, or abrades, the sharpened blade against the undesirable grout using a linear sawing motion until the entirety of the undesirable grout is removed from the tile joint.
As can be appreciated, handheld grout removal tools of the type described above suffer from a notable shortcoming. Specifically, handheld grout removal tools are both labor intensive and physically demanding to use. In particular, the use of handheld tools to manually remove grout from larger flooring areas requires a considerable amount of time and effort to complete.
Accordingly, grout removal power tools are commonly used in the art to accelerate the process of removing grout from the joints between tiles. As defined herein, use of the term “grout removal power tools” encompasses both power tools that are specifically designed to remove grout as well as grout removal adaptors that can be attached to traditional power tools. One well known type of grout removal tool includes a single, removable grinding element, such as a grinding wheel, that is fixedly mounted on an elongated shaft that is, in turn, rotatably driven by a motor. In use, grout removal power tools of the type as described above can be used in the following manner to remove grout from tile joints. Specifically, the power tool is positioned such that the abrasive contact surface of the grinding element is disposed in linear alignment with a tile joint. With power applied to the tool such that the grinding element rotates, a slight downward force is applied onto the tool so that the grinding element abrades the undesirable grout from the joint. While maintaining the abrasive contact surface of the grinding element within the joint, the tool can be displaced linearly along a path of co-linear joints so as to remove all grout disposed therein. Once the linear path of grout has been removed, the tool is lifted and placed into alignment within another path of co-linear tile joints. The process is repeated until all the undesirable grout has been removed from the flooring surface.
Although well known and widely used in the art, grout removal power tools often suffer from a couple notable shortcomings.
As a first shortcoming, grout removal power tools are still somewhat limited in the efficiency in which they can be used to remove grout from an enlarged flooring surface. Specifically, as noted above, grout removal power tools are designed to grind grout along a single path of co-linear tile joints. As a result, the tool must be repeatedly lifted, repositioned and drawn along multiple paths in order to grind out the grout for an entire floor. As can be appreciated, this limitation compromises the efficiency in which a grout removal power tool can be used to remove grout in a larger commercial settings.
As a second shortcoming, grout removal power tools often create and spread a considerable amount of dust and debris during the grinding process. As can be appreciated, this creation of airborne contaminants often creates problems for environments that require a high level of cleanliness, such as commercial kitchens.